1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to the area of optical communications. In particular, the invention is related to a method and apparatus for processing optical channel or channel band signals with specified wavelengths.
2. The Background of Related Art
The future communication networks demand ever increasing bandwidths and flexibility to different communication protocols. DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) is one of the key technologies for such optical fiber communication networks. DWDM employs multiple wavelengths or channels in a single fiber to transmit in parallel different communication protocols and bit rates. Transmitting several channels in a single optical fiber at different wavelengths can multi-fold expand the transmission capacity of the existing optical transmission systems, and facilitating many functions in optical networking.
There are many optical parts/devices used in the optical fiber communication networks. Optical tunable filter is one of the optical parts/devices widely used in many important fiber optical applications, such as, optical add/drop modules, optical cross connect systems and tunable receivers. An ideal filter is a device which can isolate an arbitrary spectral band with an arbitrary center wavelength over a broad spectral range. Accordingly, a tunable filter is known or desired to be able to transmit at any given wavelengths with some minor turning adjustments.
There are many ways of making a filter with tuning capability and, consequently, many types of tunable filters. These include those using fiber Bragg grating and tunable acoustical filter (TAOF), traditional interferometers such as Fabry-Perot, and liquid crystal filters. All have advantages and limitations and are ended up with a trade-off among the technical feasibility, the performance demands and costs. It is desirable to have tunable filters that have the advantages of simple structure, good performance, high reliability and low cost.